Ramadan Offensive (2003)

The Ramadan Offensive occurred from 26 October to 24 November 2003 when Iraqi insurgents launched an offensive against the Iraqi government and US-led coalition forces during the month of Ramadan. The offensive led to the spread of the Iraqi insurgency and the escalation of the Iraq War.

Background
Following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the pro-Saddam Hussein Iraqi Army was immediately dismantled by the Coalition authorities, and the Coalition set up an Iraqi provisional government in preparation for democratic elections and the formation of a new government. However, several former Ba'athist soldiers (many of whom had become unemployed by the Iraqi Army's dissolution) and Iraqi nationalists retrieved arms and ammunition from the arms caches which Saddam had left behind, and they began an insurgency against the occupiers.

Offensive
On 26 October 2003, at the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan (a month which the Coalition expected to be peaceful), suicide bombers drove 5 carloads of explosives into 5 buildings, the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and four Iraqi police stations. The insurgents also fired ten rockets at the al-Rashid Hotel, killing one US soldier and wounding 15 others, attempting to assassinate Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. On 27 October 2003, the bombing of the Red Cross compound and the bombing of the Baghdad police stations killed 35 people and injured 244; on 12 November, the Italian military police headquarters in Nasiriyah was also bombed, killing 28 people, including 17 Italian soldiers and 2 civilians. At the same time, the insurgents downed several US helicopters, killing 39 soldiers and wounding 31. By 24 November 2003, the offensive had come to an end, marking the start of the Iraqi insurgency.